National Family Literacy Day, January 27, promotes the importance of reading and learning. In Hamilton, it’s a weeklong celebration! Join us from January 24 to 30 and introduce your family to the magic and wonder of reading.
After School Help is available!
THIS AFTER SCHOOL HELP CLUB WILL BE OFFEREDFROM JANUARY 2009 TO THE END OF MAY 2009
WHERE: Sherwood Public Library - Meeting Room A,
DATES: Mondays & Thursdays 5-7 pm, starting Monday January 12th, ending Thursday May 28th 2009
LITERACY is about more than reading and writing – it is about how we communicate in society. It is about social practices and relationships, about knowledge, language and culture. Literacy… finds its place in our lives alongside other ways of communicating. Indeed, literacy takes many forms: on paper, on the computer screen, on TV, on posters and signs. Those who use literacy take it for granted – but those who cannot use it are excluded from much communication in today’s world. Indeed, it is the excluded who can best appreciate the notion of “literacy as freedom”.
At Lawfield
Our mission is to educate students through literacy to become lifelong learners and contributing citizens in a challenging, changing, multi-cultural world. We support our students through the learning process by providing literacy rich activities that engage and motivate our students to read and write. We continuously assess our students to ensure that we are meeting their learning needs.
Literacy Improvement Project:
The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board’s vision is a future in which all students achieve their full potential in literacy. It is because of this vision that each elementary school in the HWDSB has a Literacy Improvement Project Teacher. The overall goal of the literacy improvement project is to enhance student performance by building teacher capacity in literacy instruction and assessment.
Boys Read To Succeed :
Test results provincially and at the board level indicate that overall, boys are not achieving as well as girls in reading and writing. In order to engage, motivate and improve boys’ literacy skills, the HWDSB began supporting boys through “Boys Read to Succeed” reading clubs for Grade 3 and Grade 6 boys across the board. Here at Lawfield, we are running both a Grade 3 and a Grade 6 boy’s book club. If you would like to know more about the “Boys Read to Succeed” program please visit the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board website at www.hwdsb.on.ca and click on the Boys to Men link.
French Immersion:
The French Immersion program begins in Senior Kindergarten. Students are taught all subjects in French in SK and grade 1. English instruction begins in grade 2. The expectations for students in French Immersion are the same as the expectations taught in an English classroom. Students develop increasing literacy skills in both languages. If you would like more information about French Immersion, please click on the link below. French Immersion - Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board
Supporting your Child at Home:
As parents you are probably already doing a lot of things which will help your child move forward in their path to literacy. The most important way to support your child is to keep the learning fun. Here are just a few suggestions to support your children at home:
Read to your child whenever you can. Ensure that your child is exposed to a wide range of reading materials (i.e. newspapers, letters, recipes, magazines, puzzle books, TV Guides).
Help your child to tell stories from pictures in the book.
Talk about the characters, plots and settings of stories.
Enrol your child in the local library and choose books together.
Talk about what you have read in the newspaper, magazines and books.
Compare events and people in books with your own lives.
When reading to your child, stop sometimes and ask ‘What do you think might happen next?”.
Have plenty of scrap paper, pencils and crayons on the table for your child. Give them a diary or notebook for Christmas.
Encourage your child to write letters, postcards, lists and messages.
Discuss favourite authors together and decide why you like them.
Encourage your child to read to younger brothers and sisters.
Read books that have been made into films or videos and encourage your child to talk about the differences between the books and the video or film.
Buy your child games that provide simple instructions to be read and followed. Play work games together
Encourage your child to keep a journal or diary when on holiday. This is particularly valuable if you are travelling and your child is missing school.
Recognize and be proud of your child’s successes in reading.
Provide a quiet well-lit study area.
Help your child organize their time for homework.
Assist with goal setting.
Continue to discuss ideas, statements and underlying beliefs which are evident in newspapers, books and television programs.
Talk to your child’s teacher about homework expectations. Ask if there is anything further you can do to help!
National Family Literacy Day, January 27, promotes the importance of reading and learning. In Hamilton, it’s a weeklong celebration! Join us from January 24 to 30 and introduce your family to the magic and wonder of reading.